Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,705 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.7% of Sowell Financial Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after acquiring an additional 285,533 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,842,241,000 after purchasing an additional 81,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $6.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $882.24. 866,021 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,957,630. The company has a market capitalization of $391.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $874.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $820.24. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.30%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,097,624 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.